NY summer camps have $1.6B impact on economy

New York’s 2,200 day- and sleep-away summer camps employ about 70,000 at their peak with a $1.6-billion direct impact on the economy, according to an industry study.

The economic impact report by Planning Decisions, commissioned by the American Camp Association, Northeast Region, found that summer camps have a $3.2 billion impact in nine Northeastern states – New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The study calculated economic impact based on payroll as well as operational and capital spending, showing that summer camps are a powerful economic engine in New York.

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“The youth camping industry in the Northeast stands out as a rare example of economic strength during the Great Recession over the past several years,” according to the study.

The roughly 7,000 camp programs in the Northeast employ 190,000 people seasonally and 11,000 full-time with total payroll up 7.3 percent since 2007, even though total payroll of all businesses during that time period fell by 0.7 percent, according to the study.

New York camps, meanwhile, employ 66,200 seasonal workers ages 16 to 24 and 3,900 full-time workers. The industry’s payroll rose by 11 percent since 2007, even though payroll in the state fell more than 1 percent, according to the study.

In addition to payroll, New York camps spend $1.3 billion on goods and services including food, supplies, fuel, marketing, banking, maintenance and repair.

New York camps also attract 142,000 out-of-state visitors to the state who spend $20 million annually, according to the study.